Tag: JLA

Prologue

IT HAD BEEN TWO MONTHS SINCE I’D LAST VISITED THE CORP TOWER WHEN I FOUND MYSELF, LATE ONE NIGHT, RECEIVING A SPECIAL INVITATION. It came in the form of two gigantic, suited, monosyllabic bodyguards. The glimmer of the single letter signet rings they both wore were introduction enough. The rest was force. Within seconds I was in car, just able to grab a camera and notepad from my apartment and balance glasses on the end of my nose. The drive was quiet, but quick; there was I sat firmly between the two beefcakes, staring at a black tinted driver shield. Outside I saw the city fleet past, not a head turning toward the dark limo. Within minutes I was at the Corp Tower, walking around the labyrinthine corridors that spiralled from the ornate reception, past gigantic sculptures and escorted into a glass lift. As the lift rose I thought I saw a familiar face below, looking impassively up at the rising elevator. Was it impassive? I could make out the turned, glossed lips and immaculate make-up. Something switched in my head and I suddenly remembered my lucky pack – surely lying quietly on a shelf at home. I gulped and left my stomach on floor 65 as I sped to the top of the tower.Emerging onto a helipad, all watered down cement, fresh blue markings and chrome bars I was met by a young woman, clasping a raincoat tightly around her. She held an umbrella above my head as she pulled me towards her. The rain was light and I got the impression that the covering was more for the benefit of my destination.There ahead of me sat a purring helicopter. Huge, seemingly levitating on the wet pad. The rotors swooped in slow motion, throwing a soft buzz into the wet breeze. As we walked, I heard the instructions given by the woman close to my ear. Half warning, half order. Her voice slowed with our strides as the chopper neared. The green chassis gleamed. Behind the cockpit glass I saw only black equipment with black gloved hands slowly working. I could feel black eyes stare at me from behind shades. We were nearly at the open door when I dared ask my guide what the rush was. She looked at me just for a moment at the base of the steps. “Didn’t you feel it?” She asked. I didn’t need to try to look perplexed. “You can’t keep him waiting”. Her eyes dropped as I climbed the steps and saw him, the last person I wanted to see. I knew he’d be there of course. I was stuck, suddenly feeling rather lonely, at the top of his bloody tower. As usual, he was sharply attired in a sleek air suit. I was not. His head gleamed, his hands worked. One picked up a safety harness and flak jacket which he threw at me, the other worked a miniscule tablet device. I knew where we were going before I recognised the map on the screen: due south. Something had happened, something had to have happened. But I knew that seed of a thought would only make the trip longer still.

Chapter I

“Hope.” That’s all the hulk said to me as the helicopter rose into the air. “Hope”. Rising from the tallest tower in the City, moonlight still managed to catch the skyline below and strafe his face with shadow. I stared into the reflection, the dark eyes embedded in pits that stayed resolutely black in spite of the strobe. “I know you had hope, of a kind, but it’s gone”.He might be true. My body suddenly felt heavy and sluggish. I blamed it on the helicopter and shook my head slightly. The last time I had confronted this man there had been talk of a doomsday. That had stopped some weeks before, abruptly. Whatever had been coming hadn’t. It had been halted in its tracks. But with that act, the city’s guardian had disappeared. Searches continued in the suburbs of the city, where huge craters pock-marked what once were amusement parks and lakes, fields and reservoirs. It had been weeks, but it was still too early to say that hope had gone. The deep voice continued. “He was more than hope, more than anything any human should ever believe in. He was a distortion of everything human, a forced Messiah” Ah. We were back in that office, as if no time had passed at all since the uncomfortable interview. This time, despite the rush and surprise I was far more prepared. That first meeting had run and run through my mind… I had wanted a rematch and now I had it. “I was surprised” I acknowledged, taking the nape of my nose between my fingers as a the nausea abated. Ahead of me, the eyes didn’t move. They remained trained intently on me…
Following the heavy symbolism of Superman Returns (the son and the father, the fall to Earth, the resurrection), I was amazed that Man of Steel pushed the symbolism even further. The church visit and the spread-arm descent from space are blunt, but the world wandering and name-checked age of 33 are deliberate additions. In support, Warner Bros also accompanied the film’s release with some peculiar specialist Christian marketing…However, the Christ-like qualities of Superman’s myth have been present for many years. It was no coincidence that Returns, a self-styled sequel to Superman II, drew it out. Superman’s is a history full of symbolism, responsibility, sacrifice and often, resurrection – whether that’s the Death of Superman storyline in the comic books or the last third of Superman Returns. He is named as the light, the leader and his central role is that largest of metaphors: the son who becomes the father.The Kryptonian’s resurrection is hardly a unique quality among comic-book heroes. Even so, Superman arrives as an apparent Christian metaphor through a variety of sources. Superman is a fundamentally natural and biological phenomenon. A human-sized, red-caped battery powered by the yellow sun. His is an exaggerated use of the same source that gives us life, one that has also been a symbol of worship for many civilisations – the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Aztecs and others. Man of Steel drew on that bold idea of the god walking among us. The Codex that Superman carries in his DNA draws comparison with not only Noah, but Prometheus – another mythological figure who casts a mighty shadow on comics and science fiction.Perhaps most noteworthy, is the fact that Superman was created by two Jewish teenagers. Undoubtedly, he was not conceived as this Christ-like figure – their first character called Superman was a mad scientist with more in common with Superman’s greatest nemesis.Across the cabin, the lips curled. But just as Superman grew to focus his powers, so that early groundwork built up through the decades to form a Christian allegory that film creatives still find so compelling.

Chapter II

We were sat in a flying lump of metal I could only, lamely, describe as the most futuristic thing I had ever seen. It was sleek and solid, huge and powerful. It was a statement of intent. It was aimed south and I was on it. The rest was unclear. We were careering across the southern suburbs of the great metropolis at an incredible rate, but still the rotors made hardly any noise, the open doorways – there were no doors – were guarded so closely by the design that there was neither the incredible rush of air or the flight of the wind. I looked around as my interviewer examined me closely. My eyes darted. For a second, I was sure that I saw an indentation at the top right hand of the cabin… It looked like a hand. No… But, in the changing light it was impossible to see it properly. I certainly didn’t intend to unbuckle myself and stand in the cabin at that precise moment. The next question seemed to pick up on my thoughts, dwelling as they did on the contemporary and futuristic. I shuddered slightly and raised my chin.“He’s outdated, he has no place in the 21st century”I parried back once more.Superman is not an easy to evolve. If he ever was, he isn’t now. Once the character had developed, he proved too archetypal to play with too much. One factor must have been the massive rise of the superhero during the Silver Age of comics. With the powers that all others are judged by, Superman was forced into a locked and lead-lined template of sorts. Each change since, whether momentary such as the Death, Transformed or power loss storylines or life changing (until reboot) like his marriage to Lois, have created opprobrium in the press and fair-weather fans alike. But that’s not too say that Big Blue hasn’t changed. For all the tropes and stock parts of the myth that stay intact (costume, phone boxes, Lois, Daily Planet) important ones have been lost (Lois’ obliviousness, the Jimmy Olsen watch – for the most part, Luthor the mad criminal scientist…). In fact, Superman has changed greatly since his inception. It’s just not been easy to notice.Fandom is defined by its lobbying for then outrage at change. But despite his many mythical elements, Superman is on a far more sticky wicket than the Dark Knight. While the basics stay intact, Batman is defined by his constant evolution. In fact, his evolution has turned into a real Bat-asset. While the Dark Knight can be identified as 60s camp, 70s dark, 80s gothic, Nolan-real and so on, Superman apparently remains very similar. Henry Cavill’s relationship with Ma Kent isn’t that different from Welling, Cain or Christopher Reeves’. It may be that the Bat-family is more durable. The first Robin grew up to spread his wings as Nightwing while no such enduring success has served Jimmy Olsen, the latter Superboys or Krypto the Superdog. “You talk about the man… A man with a family. If he’s just a man, there are others”.There are others.The DC Universe presented on film has been markedly influenced by Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.(Although, that introduction’s an injustice. It is writer David S Goyer who lay not only at the heart of the Dark Knight trilogy, but also Man of Steel and its forthcoming sequel as well as the new Commissioner Gordon television show and the here before you know it Justice League film.)2012 was a key year for superhero films, pitching Nolan’s ‘realistic’ take against the highly militaristic but jocular Marvel Avengers. It was a battle of the billion dollar film franchises – Marvel’s long-trailed team-up versus the Dark Knight’s ‘satirical’ violence. Both emerged well from the scrap, but it was a battle that established very clear rules for the rematch in 2015 – a year that Spielberg and Lucas might well call the make or break year of the blockbuster.With Man of Steel it’s clear that Warner Bros saw strength in the darker, more serious tones that Nolan and Goyer established as opposed to matching the Marvel universe gag for gag. The Avengers wasn’t a camp affair by any means. But while Marvel may play with killing a character – in DC’s universe anything is possible. Given the 2011 Green Lantern disaster, that’s not a bad decision.

Chapter III

“Some of Gotham’s finest minds gone in an instant, so much trust placed in those alien hands and based on what? How many must he kill?”On the seat next to the figure I saw a short stack of papers pawed over by his large hands. As the paper shifted I thought I saw a logo I hadn’t seen for years. The tip of a yellow triangle, a star..? How deep did this man’s reach go, how far below the streets, past the sewers…I looked from the window, where the sun sat low on the horizon and barns and outhouses cast long dark shadows over fields and vineyards. I knew where we were going, but why?
Anything is possible? Really? The deaths of major characters, the surprising (presumed) demise of Emil Hamilton – it all set a tone for tone for Man of Steel’s new universe. It’snot without comedy and neither was the Dark Knight, but it creates a world of repercussion and consequence.During the course of the Dark Knight trilogy Gotham visibly transformed from Kowloon to Manhattan. It’s not exactly Morten Harket breaking out of his comic world, but it shows an intent to increasingly ground the universe in realism, even within its own narrative. After the Dark Knight, that almost seems a crucial approach to modernising a definitive superhero. Were it not for Joss Whedon that is. There’s more that one way to skin a bat after all.Warner’s is not an easy path, but runs less risk of the comic campery that has wounded them more than most. Superman has appeared as outdated for years and although the mass devastation, or rather the ambiguous human cost, of Man of Steel appears very un-Superman, it acutely makes that modernist argument. Goyer has recently spoken out about the death count and voiced his strong support for Superman’s right to kill, acknowledging the opposition from many other comic writers. In the DC film universe, death really is the catalyst that The Avengers built into its plot.While Batman has lived in this universe of consequence since 2005, it’s a big step for Superman. Why not easy? In essence it’s a finite universe that works contrary to the rules of comic books, one where death is real and consequences eternal.I used to rail at the middle ground comic films took to death before. Taking the original Batman films of the ‘80s and ‘90s, the Joker was killed off in part one, the Penguin in part two. There was death rather than incarceration in Arkham Asylum, but there was no consequence to it. These were westerns, where the lone slinger lived to walk away to lick his wounds until the next gang rode into town. That was a Batman who battled super villains one at a time, each one of them meeting a grizzly end after a week or so of conflict. It wasn’t compelling, although the films were immensely enjoyable. This unwritten law of the superhero film fortunately changed in the 2000s – an even more sequel-savvy time – despite Spiderman’s best efforts to keep it going. In The Dark Knight trilogy, every death had a purpose. Whether Batman Begins was intended to establish a trilogy (highly unlikely), by the time The Dark Knight had granted Christopher Nolan a blank sheet for the follow-up, the third part could only provide closure.In 2012, The Avengers expertly established a super team in the Marvel world of comics. In fact, it was more effective than any other Marvel film at putting Marvel on film – mainly thanks to Joss Whedon who evidently breathes the House of Ideas. Man of Steel is a film that reflects the contemporary Superman ‘universe’. It’s darker, it’s a world of ramifications, it’s drawing on the lines of history laid down by 60 years of the comics, just like The Dark Knight trilogy had done for his caped comrade…The helicopter buzzed. It had been a smooth journey so far, the sound of the machine hardly audible, but now I noticed it. Looking from the window, I saw that we had dropped – virtually skimming the thinning trees. We were approaching the suburbs – I’d seen the trees thin like this a thousand times. Soon to be replaced by dark canals, lakes and stacks of rundown warehouses… But this time something was different. There were less trees, or rather less treetops. Giant stems and trunks lay flat on the ground, giant swathes of earth fleeing the root cavities. I realised that both my hands were flat against the windows as I strained to see more. Running through the trees laid furrows and trenches, like fissures, ripping the forests and fields into shards.“Update.” The voice was deep and commanding, it wasn’t a question. I don’t know who it was aimed at but I was sure that whoever it was intended for had heard it. A tinny voice rang through the cabin, clear and crisp as though it came through the walls.“Sir, confirmed as a 7.6 quake with an epicentre on the south west outskirts. Government response teams testing viability of remaining bridges around the island. Seven minutes to the Tower”.The figure was impassive. I turned back to the window, where metres below the mud trenches were clearly revealed as faults. There had been a cataclysm and we were heading right into it.

Chapter IV

I was reeling, trying to understand why I was in the transport with perhaps the most important people in the country heading for a disaster zone. Why me? The smallest whimper may have escaped my lips. Fortunately I had some questions to distract me. Unfortunately they were drilled at me by the same person.“But then you’ve got to agree that souped-up boy scout isn’t as interesting as that lying rodent…” – I must have missed the “f” in the rush of air. Small branches snapped against the undercarriage. “I’ve heard that. I’ve heard that many times in the last month.” The sound of flight was much louder now, as if the air was resisting our arrival. Just like this city to reject help I thought. Below me, the broken husks of warehouses had begun to litter the landscape. “I’ve heard Superman described as a difficult character because he just isn’t as interesting as Batman, but really?” There’s two sides to it each equally as interesting, and I laid them out..On one hand Superman’s lost his home planet and entire species, not just his parents. On the other he’s one of the few superheroes who was able to make a choice of his own free-will. Although Man of Steel saw Zod’s actions force Kal-El’s hands somewhat, the addition of Kryptonian ‘genetic set roles’ adds a new dimension.Batman’s dual identity may appear more compelling, set as it is against a city of madness, but aside from the ‘which persona is the mask?’ debate, is Bruce Wayne so much deeper than Clark Kent?Superman, Kal-El and Clark Kent are three distinct personalities: world saviour, Kryptonian son and Kansas farm boy turned Pulitzer-baiting journalist. Each feeds in to the other and it’s far more than simply donning a suit under a crisp white shirt. Biographically the character was first and foremost raised as Clark. His super powers developed over time, leading to the creation of one persona and discovery of the other. One is the moral question of great responsibility coming with great power, the other the inevitable quest to discover his origin. While Kal-El may have arrived at around the same time as Superman, it’s easily identifiable as an objective route to dealing with his role as Superman. It can be looked at in different ways.Film, TV series and comics have dealt with this differently and if you want to break up the various Supermen from Superboys, it’s far easier to look at their on-screen portrayals. Superman’s different personas are more nuanced than the pre-eminent modern Batman debate of which character is the mask. Superman is far less psychologically tortured, but there is plenty of room for many different interpretations.Smallville, by TV necessity, was all about Clark Kent’s discovery of Kal-El. Taking on the caped mantle was the end result and was only seen in the final episode alongside that typical Superman power, flight. Superman the Movie dealt very much with Clark Kent. Here we saw Superman arrive fully developed. The discovery of Kal-El was touched upon, but revealed by the Clark Kent character as well as external factors – importantly, the loss of his father. He was then nourished in a ice fortress for years until the ready-formed mind-set of Kal-Superman emerged.In Man of Steel Clark’s character undergoes similar loss, but sitting between its two predecessors, it creates a loner Clark Kent who embarks on a long Christ-like period of discovery but also pre-destiny. The film shows that his years of searching eventually trigger a set of events that rapidly answer long hanging questions. Strong with coincidence Man of Steel balances the change against a long Bruce Banner style journey of self-discovery before Zod’s arrival suddenly brings the decision to the fore. Unlike the Movie, Clark does not have years encased in the Fortress of Solitude to understand his situation – those years are instead spent among the best and worst of the people he will chose to adopt. His persona emerges from his battle with his biological people. The effect is a less contrived and more human Superman. He discovered the role of Superman at the age of 33, far later than the Welling or Reeve iterations.Onscreen, the channelling of different facets of the character by each actor has helped create Superman as a successful screen icon – yes, including Dean Cain. It’s possible, that this has served to limit his growth in the comics. Certainly, you are far more likely to imagine an actor as your Clark Kent than with Bruce Wayne. The infamous, but abating Hollywood curse hasn’t helped Superman loosen that distinction.“Curses, fate and destiny. Is that where we’ve arrived? I have always dealt in fact and certainty”Below groups of people had started to form. Even from meters above, they were disorientated, dispossessed. A tragedy was unfolding.

Chapter V

Both Superman and Batman are figures of tragedy and the paternal legacy that leads from that. It’s intensely personal, but also about the personnel. While Bruce Wayne famously lost his parents as a young boy, he replaced them with a framework of characters, among them his faithful ‘batman’ of conscience Alfred, figure of justice Commissioner Gordon and figure of (business) moral Lucius Fox. The Dark Knight trilogy took this to its extreme, supplementing and layering those paternal analogies throughout the trilogy.
In contrast, Superman lost his parents and his race as an infant and has been a product of two parental sets ever since. True there are others, but they are not strong. Daily Planet editor Perry White could take on such a role easily, but he also serves it for Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and his other employees. Man of Steel purposefully delivered its disaster movie plot through individuals. It wasn’t just the central message that was bottled down to a personal level. It was seeded and foreshadowed through the characters caught up in the third act’s destruction of Metropolis.Instead of seeing the large military presence that’s seen elsewhere carry out the evacuation, it was followed through Perry White and the Daily Planet staff. This was a big film played out through the archetype characters of Superman lore. Zack Snyder has recently defended the mass destruction of comparing it to the Japanese monster films of the 1950s and beyond. When he first appeared, Godzilla was a clear analogy for the horror of nuclear weapons, a close response to a very real and recent tragedy. Godzilla’s relocation to America over the years hasn’t had quite the same effect, but in Man of Steel, Snyder adopted the idea. It’s not a new idea that Superman forms part of a modern America’s pantheon akin to the Greek gods of Olympus or Nordic gods of Asgard. Man of Steel saw Snyder rope in stronger beats, more reflective of modern America. Just as the first Godzilla film was repurposed for American audiences (Raymond Burr intercut into destruction for added resonance), Snyder used the film’s individuals to counter-balance this. At the start, Godzilla had little perception of the people in the mass disaster he dealt, just as the Kryptonians had little perception of the humans in their metropolis.Batman is a more immediately personal crime-fighter. Partly it’s because he’s human and he loves a gadget, just like many husbands. Partly he’s defined by his fights against individual villains or even against the highly anthropomorphic Gotham City. His fight is a dark and self-destructive one. But people love the dark vigilante and Batman has become a definitively brilliant example of that. That said, Superman may be the exception to the rule that the good guys are less interesting in comparison. While Batman’s origin has become mythic, but Superman’s is biblical.The son of two worlds idea is a deep and powerful one – albeit more opaque than Batman’s son of two sides of a city. It’s B-movie versus film noir, and you only have to look at critical reception to see how that unfolds. I noticed that across the cabin a hand lay against the glass window. Impassively, the thick neck and strong dome were studying the devastation below. The thick knuckles were white against the pane. As the inevitable dark clouds fell around us as we neared the city districts, the reflection of his face was lost in shadow.I was speaking louder and more confidently now as if to keep his attention, I had to finish before we arrived. Who knew what would happen then… “It’s that Superman’s perceived as outdated, clean-cut and too powerful to be opposed that a lot of emphasis falls on the darker and so ‘more interesting’ Batman.” I paused as I remembered my lucky pack. I thought of the King of Clubs and King of Hearts vying for the top deck.
The next film has been announced as Superman versus Batman – even if the name changes in the interim, the long mooted struggle is at last reaches the big screen. That opposition, purposefully, sounds a little more drastic than it is. In reality, they are just ideologically opposed. It’s a concept that’s nicely murky for our times, and their first meeting will make for interesting viewing. Notes that swiftly accompanied the casting of Ben Affleck in the Dark Knight’s role confirmed that this would be a grizzled, older Batman. Not Dark night Returns perhaps, but no Batman beginning.Of course, Bats and Supes have historically come to blows in the comics, and most aficionados will opt for the mortal side of the coin. Usually that opposition comes in some form of corruption to what Superman is or does. Superman isn’t a vigilante after all, with a public persona and allegiances sworn at various times to US and world bodies. Batman is all about vigilantism. In any dystopian shift, a government, just like any villain, would seek to corrupt the more powerful Superman first (remember, Batman’s only a mortal). In that role, Batman always rises to the surface as the champion of right. There are levels of irony in their pairing, but over the years it’s forged a close bond.“The most dangerous mortal on Earth. Perhaps he still is…”We were over the city outskirts. Below I could see the stately parks and manor houses of the city’s founding fathers. Those that were still intact had the ground ripped from underneath them. One sat among chasms, a dark pit spreading from its base. It looked like foundations were exposed in the cave below. The figure in front of me craned his neck.There is no defence against Superman. He gets all the attention from governments, cartels or rival injustice leagues because he’s the one to take down. Swearing allegiance to the President of the USA in a far more – perhaps necessarily – open way than Batman, he is the first to succumb. At the first sign of a metahuman registration act, in the first wave of hypnosis or brainwashing into, he’s a prime target – whether villain, governments or both are behind it. As he a natural the symbol of the American Dream it oozes dramatic potential. As opposition to the ultimate symbol of vigilantism, it’s even better.When it comes to kryptonite knuckle-dusters, the rule of the underdog gives the Dark Knight of Gotham a distinct advantage.

Chapter VI

We were nearing the end of our journey I assumed. There must be a stopping point. Surely he wasn’t here just to circle… There were rumours he had far more property in the city below us than anyone knew of course. Rumours that a duplicate of his Scottish manor to the north had been constructed here as well. I was curious to see if would head there before or after The Tower. I turned back to my interviewer. Inevitably, the challenge for the next film was set. “Invincible.” It sounded chilling above the devastation. “He’s invincible”. “He’s a storytelling challenge who’s been underserved…” The head twisted slightly on the thick neck too face me.In the comics, when they have clashed, it’s Batman who’s invariably the victor, but there are inherent problems with bringing Superman to the big screen. The same issues that make him the one to take down, also ensure that he’s perceived as dull.That Batman has the greater and better known gallery of rogues is good indicator of the difficulty with the Superman. The Caped Crusader has almost inarguably the best roster of nemeses, perhaps only rivalled by Spiderman. The fact that Gotham City’s guardian is mortal helps immensely of course, as does that fact that they are generally mentally unstable and reside for the most part in an asylum.But with Superman you can’t just ramp up the gothic.Superman’s foes may have been around as long or longer than Batman’s, but they haven’t achieved the same cultural familiarity. Braniac is no Joker, Metallo is no Riddler. Some of the earliest have all but disappeared as solo Superman rogues, such as the Ultrahumanite. Others like Luthor have changed immeasurably. However, much of the problem is that for the most part, they can’t be realised on screen. Even with the arrival of CGI Superman Returns illustrated the resistance perfectly.Now, with reboot fresh in the minds and a sequel announced, we still aren’t being introduced to universal foes such as Darkseid, Mogul or Brainiac. All the emphasis in the next film, sensibly, has to fall to the modern day corporate Lex Luthor.Man of Steel chose to favour the General Zod, last seen in cinemas in Superman II (1980), which made great origin sense. Still, the General’s earlier appearance had played it’s part Superman’s difficulty. Despite a broad range of foes and storylines crossing nearly eight decades, the failure to draw on them in the past has just served to diminish the Man of Steel. That he’s just too powerful has been a constant challenge in the books and films, although the rise of CGI should helped combat this. So far, the common attempt to combat it has been a sharp divergence between the Superman comics and onscreen representations. At last, it appears that the Kryptonian has allies on celluloid.Previously, the blame has lain with the film creators themselves. While Superman the Movie is wonderful in its scope, as is the sequel that unleashed General Zod onto the world, Superman III, IV and Returns suffered from poor decisions. The latter two continued the outdated and limiting misreading of Superman’s biggest foe – as enjoyable as Gene Hackman’s portrayal was. While Lex Luthor had started off as a mad scientist in the comics, the current corporate Luthor is a far more interesting creation than the one seen in the Reeve films or their belated sequels. It was only in the 1980s that the current nuanced and interesting take on the character came to the fore in the comics. Various storylines and creative teams have established Luthor as the greatest human who has ever lived, knocking off cancer cures at a whim (and of course charging tons to patients in the process), providing innate genius to a multi-billion business that Bruce Wayne can barely touch. Effectively he’s the greatest human Earth has ever produced but then… An alien just happens to land in America and steals all the glory. Luthor will always be number two, and every despicable plan has its root in that jealousy inspired by an unnatural twist of fate. Even in the 1960s (Adventure Comics 271), it was posited that Luthor and Clark Kent knew each other as children, an idea recently brought back to the fore in the tremendously successful Smallville. So in all, it’s curiosity that lead to jealousy at the root of Luthor’s evil. Another in a long line of fantastic and jealous villains. It’s an emotion that has powered brilliant plots and inspired great writers for centuries, including, it must be said, those who’ve breathed life into Superman. In the comics anything is fair game, from Lois to morals, from Metropolis to the Earth.I resisted the urge to push Mark Millar’s Red Son once again… I pulled the collar around my neck as the cold glare chilled the air around me. Under the intense scrutiny I contemplated making a leap for it. If there was one man who didn’t need a look to kill…

Epilogue

Saved. Red lights blinked and confirmation came to the cabin that we were near our destination. The chopper smoothly dipped through the cloud that had built up at the centre. There were less buildings than there used to be, I noted unemotionally. The sky was strangely quiet, but below the clouds the streets were chaos. Swathes of concrete and tarmac had been overturned, gigantic trenches dotted every block wriggling in and out of the buildings. Blue and red lights flashed in between, main a sea of white light. I couldn’t even gauge the devastation. I couldn’t consider the loss… The city as everyone knew it was gone. It wasn’t a tourist trap, it wasn’t visited by people other than those who had a reason. Those who knew what had gone were select, many of them in the streets now…Somehow through all of it we landed. There was a mist, a haze… Like the disorientation couldn’t rest in the streets and was reaching up to escape.The cabin release lights flicked on and I earned a scowl from the figure that flashed past to leave the cabin as I grappled with my safety belt. In the minute it took me to put a foot to the concrete and find my land legs, he was already standing 20 metres in front of me surveying the scene as if he’d been there a thousand years. I realised we were on the top of a skyscraper, perched in the middle of the city. His skyscraper? I couldn’t remember him having one before… It was eerie… What would happen next I thought…Man of Steel left vast swathes of the Superman mythos waiting while it redefined the story and set many other cogs in motion. Using the sequel of this successful Superman as a springboard for the rebooted Batman is a clever one, and not just financially. Batman can survive very well on his own of course, but he needs to be cajoled into the DC universe just as his Justice League peers occasionally need to convince him to be a team player. While Arrow promises to introduce the Flash to the small screen, within a few short years a functional Justice League could be ready to go, showing up Marvel’s not-so-secret-invasion as slow. Many things need to align for that to happen, but the establishment of the two male cornerstones of the DC universe in that one film will help greatly in bringing that vision to the big screen. That battle, though mostly inferred will be far larger than the sum of its parts. While Superman sits awkwardly in the Man of Steel Universe, those flip-side ideologies promise to be scintillating.There is still the third icon of DC’s trinity to come of course, and she really is a goddess. Rumours are circulating that Wonder Woman’s being cast in the film, potentially shifting it into the Trinity core of the Justice League.But what else could be in store? Luthor must be a shoe in for the next instalment – not just as the enemy of Superman in Metropolis, but a major competitor of Bruce Wayne across the trading floor. Although Professor Hamilton’s presumably gone, Luthor’s surely the link to Kryptonite but crucially, that’s the one element that Batman needs to make a fight of it. Add in the Amazonian princess, and the cards are being stacked for a multi-textured struggle. Exactly what you’d expect from this burgeoning universe. I thought of my playing cards again and looked at my host. He sat above his tower overlooking the devastation. I could see it there again. Opportunity, that’s what he saw in ever displaced person, every broken street, every upturned house. In the distance a cloud grew in the air from a controlled explosion. It looked like the river. Perhaps the island and was being separated from the mainland. We were being sealed in, I knew it almost instinctively… Next to me, the focussed eyes gleamed. One of the country’s major cities in ruins, one man to save it. I thought the lights might reflect in his eyes and reached into my bag for a notepad. I didn’t want to miss the moment those reflected lights turned into the facsimile of the Oval Office reflected in his eyes. As I floundered, he turned to look at me. The steely gaze refreshed with zeal and confidence. He spoke slowly and deliberately, his words reminding me of the last time I was in this city, joining that select group. “Some time ago a friend asked me a question…”

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Prologue

DARK AND HEAVY CLOUDS HUNG OVER THE CITY, DRIPPING STRINGS OF RUMOUR TO THE STREETS BELOW. Something was coming and the sky looked like it might fall in its path. Sat on the 98th floor of the Corp tower, surveying the largest metropolis in North America, I couldn’t help but think that this was a terrible day for an interview. It was barely eight weeks since half the financial district had been levelled. A mighty battle almost invisible to the eye had dropped craters through the streets and punched holes through buildings. Most of the city’s infrastructure remained in ruins and the recovery was slow work despite the flurry of activity that surrounded it. Various city patrons circled the devastation, prodding and testing the best anchor points for their web. There was a new world order and they all wanted the best view. And there, rising above them all, sat the man I was about to meet. Now, while the devastation still filled every paper, there was new danger. The sky was dark and the streets were afraid. Whispers were caught in the gutter eddies. On the ground, at tarmac corners, you heard that it was coming from the west, that it wasn’t slow… There was little else you could believe. While the Goat’s town to the south was wary, the real panic lay 98 floors beneath me. Whatever was coming, it was headed straight for us. The press talked of a doomsday.Sheet rain had started. It collided with the panel window on my left as if it was trying to peel the top of the giant ‘L’ from the building. I smiled as I wished it luck. This wouldn’t be the last time that something would try. After the architectural virus, the 13-upgrades, the bottled city… Nothing had succeeded. I was sat at the peak of the city’s totem. And then my smirk dropped, replaced by a slight cold sweat and nervous glances. Between the window and my seat a pot plant shook slightly in sympathy. Looking closer, I thought I saw small specks of green in the soil. It was if they glowed and I blinked in the twisting light. It was almost black outside. It was three in the afternoon. “Sir, if you’ll follow me please”.I started at the young woman’s approach. She stood in front of me, dressed in Corp uniform, her hand outstretched to escort me to the meeting I dreaded. Her face looked ever so slightly strained under her turned, glossed lips and immaculate make-up. I picked up my lucky pack of cards from the seat next to me, where the joker card lay on top, and followed her.

Chapter I

On the way, the looping corridors seemed to grow. Gold and lacquered wood trim swept me through the middle of the floor, beneath my feet plush red carpet brought me to a giant double door lined with reception desks. The occupants of those slabs of oak didn’t stir as I was ushered through the door. Before I knew it, my guide had left me alone in a cavernous room alone. I clutched the playing cards in my pocket as the first flashes of lightening played across the skyline. The cards had shuffled on the walk, along with my stomach.I reasoned that the room was white on the whole, but the strange inner-twilight was amplified between its plush walls. Before the external floor to ceiling windows was a mist of purples and mauves. In a room of little shadow, the air swirled in a dot matrix; different tones showed through higher and lower concentrations of dots. Like a thousand images, a thousand panels, conjuring the room from a flick book. In the swirl of pulp print copy I stopped myself raising a hand to disturb the particles. I blinked instead and in the flare noticed the huge wall of video screens to my left. I wasn’t in a comic book; the wall of separate screens diffused a glow of static into the room. Some words bubbled beneath the snow, New York… Tokyo… Kansas? I squinted towards the large metal desk at the far end of the room. Behind it, turned to the gigantic window, stood a figure. His broad shoulders were hunched, his hands clasped behind. He was surveying the dark skyline, or seemed to be. In a single poised and powerful movement he raised one arm, inviting me to the large chair in front of the desk. Like an incredible force had lifted me, I suddenly found myself dropping to the plush leather of the chair. I didn’t even feel myself move.Suddenly I was reminded me of another meeting, a recent room where I had faced a reticent opponent. Again I clenched the cards in my pocket for luck as I sat wondering which card was on top. The question was similar, but this time it wasn’t a swaying ceiling lamp that separated us, just a palpable, thick wall of power. The lightening spat across metal lines outside, each bolt glancing a reflection from the angular dome of a head before me – a head sat above gigantic shoulders. In the electricity, I could just make out a sneer under the deep-set brow as a voice baritone enough to break the glass escaped a curled lip. “Why Superman?”The words were cold and clipped. He had a flying problem. There was anger, resentment and perhaps worry in his voice. Still, I frowned.

Chapter II

It seemed like the same question every time. I knew I didn’t have long. That question would be shaped and defined by a mind sharper than my own, delivered through pin-point assassinations fired at me like slivers of kryptonite. I could feel the entry wounds already. The eyes held me in cold reflection as I sat there. In the glare, I stammered back before warming to the topic against the ice reflection… Remember, the last son of Krypton is a multi-layered enigma that has been gradually built up over 80 years – the definitive hero with mythic qualities that other superheroes can only hope for. Man of Steel got a lot of this right and it needed to. In recent years, Superman’s greatest threat has been the 21st century itself. It’s a difficult place for an American icon, decked out in primary colours, especially when an uncynical tolerance has faded in the Western world over the last forty years, now to be replaced with apps and touch screens. Man of Steel tackled that issue first. It had to.The same factors that make Superman the definitive superhero are the same as those that have consigned him to being an irrelevant, unfashionable and a sometime-box-office mope in the past decade. Man of Steel washed away the cobwebs of apathy that had surrounded the figure for too long and with relatively few concessions, but no little controversy.“He’s an old fashioned boy scout. All that power used for dull-do-goodery” The reflected scowl was now completely fixed on me. The sky flashed.“What’s dull about do-goodery..?” I stopped myself.Of course, Superman is considered the pinnacle of do-goodery…That remained the general character direction in his latest cinematic outing, in spite of his city wrecking and effective genocide (empty cryo-chambers aside). But away from those extremes, the last son of Krypton’s ethos of non-murder is shared by many other heroes. One of those is his comic book near-comparator Batman, a fellow superhero and an ally, but one who doesn’t really help the Kryptonian’s cause. The Dark Knight is interesting because of the dark world he inhabits. It’s the negated outline of the city that draws his cowled profile. The product of a random act of violence, Batman’s first tenet is that he won’t kill, one that has seeded many interesting dilemmas and relationships in his legend. But, as a non-meta mortal, it’s a necessity that his methods are somewhat murky. Even with the clout of Wayne Enterprises (alive and well in Man of Steel), he needs to even the playing field. While Batman can agonise over the morals of killing or not with his super-tech, Superman wields power enough to make life and death decisions on a universal scale every millisecond. It’s a multi-universe of greys.“He devastated the greatest city in America, thousands are still unaccounted for”. Was there… Could the passion of his earlier snarl have softened slightly?It’s the disregard for life in this new, more violent Superman that has brought the most criticism against Man of Steel. Most of the ire forms in the last third of the film, which I affectionately refer to as the ‘Kryptonian smack down’. You wait thirty years to see Kryptonians go super-toe to super-toe and then it’s all too much. There are unverified reports 40 year old men running from cinemas, tears streaming down their face screaming “The destruction! The destruction!”Well, yes, it could have been different – if the battles of Smallville and Metropolis documented in the film appeared in the comic, Superman would have been constantly dodging thought bubbles along the lines of: “must get this beast… away from the city, people… in danger.”But this was a new Superman, barely nicknamed.While the other Kryptonians were adjusting to the superpowers imbued by the yellow sun, Kal-El was experiencing his first fights and releasing years of repression, frustration and misunderstanding. This was not a reasoning Superman comfortable in his powers and their ability to stop his foes. He was a noble and a naive one who had to stop the megalomaniac Zod at all costs. If Zod had won, that cost would have been total. I think the film made that clear enough, though many disagree. In a narrative scope that shifted from Dune onto Thor’s small town climax and then out-disassembled The Avengers end scrap, it bottled down to the needs of a few argument. Of course, not the only blockbuster to do so this year. After all the action, in Grand Central Station, a final grapple of muscle and, er, heat vision. The resolution was abrupt.It’s all a far cry from the heady days of 1980s big screen Superman and Batman films. In 1989, Tim Burton’s Dark Knight was hardly unhomicidal. The start of 1992’s Batman Returns – for many years the greatest translation of comic book to comic screen – makes you wonder how many job adverts for new circus performers had to be advertised following the Penguin’s demise. Still the ideal of Batman’s morality endures, thanks to peoples ease at disregarding onscreen moral conflicts. In Man of Steel, Superman’s definitive act was violent, brutal and definitive. Many commentators have rejected this choice: Superman would always find another way. However, his final choice – and it was a final choice – was not unfamiliar to readers of the build-up to DC’s Infinite Crisis comic series last decade. Here it was repurposed (Superman took the murderous role from Wonder Woman) and cameras weren’t overtly present to bring a media furore to the mix. However, similar plot strands of media suspicion and homicidal meta-humans will endure in this new world. The vital difference in the film is that Superman stopped one of his own rather than a dangerous human, but it’s still murder. It’s vigilante justice and there has to be a moral repercussion – the act is too dark to balance against Earth’s adopted son’s guilt for his lost people. Still, the real purpose of that end fight was to show a Superman who had eventually chosen who to protect – the culmination of the film’s main message: free choice.Admittedly, Supe’s hand was slightly forced – he was put in that position by having the Kryptonian ark – the main antagonist to free will of which Zod is an extension – was ironically fused to him. The atavistic skull codex was a supreme touch, full of depth and reference – who would be that definitive Kryptonian? But despite that inherent biological drawback, although it is never suggested to be anything but dormant, it is universal luck that the Last Son of Krypton was raised in an alien society that could realise the House of El’s intention after centuries of entropy.I stopped, waiting for an onslaught. There was a moment of calm, caught in the flash of the storm. There was only one direction the questioning could take now

Chapter III

“The son of a radical, an agent of chaos. With no planet of his own, Earth is now his play thing. He is not thing short of a weapon” But not his weapon, i thought. He’s the most powerful creature on Earth, true. The Man of Steel universe looks to pave the way for a world that rapidly has to adjust to this new power base. It is the weapon after all, that has adopted the United States. It’s a similar theme to the one posed by Dr Manhattan’s arrival in Snyder’s earlier adaptation of Watchmen, but not one unfamiliar in Superman’s past. “He’s the protector of humanity” “He’s an alien” Insecurity? Was that it, burrowed deep in the thick brow. Something no amount of botox and skin treatment in the Corp spa could cover up… Superman is far more than an icon of American dominance, emerging as he did a mere after the soon-to-be World superpower fully ended isolationism. He was invention of two Jewish teenagers, one American, one Canadian, themselves seeking the American dream. Following his conception by Siegel and Shuster in the early 1930ss, he quickly turned from a bald megalomaniac Superman (appearing in the far more literal Nietzschean Reign of Superman short), into a being just a few super powers short of the dual-identity hero we know today. That element of the American Dream is one that Superman has both boldly represented and often struggling to encompass during his career. During WWII he was a morale booster – DC leveraged the Spear of Destiny as a reason why superheroes couldn’t just stop the war – while in 2011 renounced his American citizenship as he was tired of being seen as a tool of US foreign policy (a storyline written by Man of Steel scripter David S Goyer no less).A definitive exploration of this side of Superman was presented by Mark Millar’s Red Son which posed the implications of Superman’s Kryptonian escape craft landed in Russia instead of America in the 1930s. Wresting with ideology and the idea of Superman as a nuclear deterrent, it’s also a neat exploration of Superman’s villains. Like Batman, Superman is a superhero who can be judged by his enemies. In Red Son, The jealousy brewing away at the heart of nemesis, the lengths such an arms race would go to, the treachery. Most focus is on Luthor, a character recently ret-conned in the comics as a potential anti-hero who had been stripped of his American importance by Superman’s arrival. Here he had achieved another miserable role – a genius President locked in an exacerbated but futile Cold War. “I’ve read it” Okay. I’d made my point.. Superman in the established universe was raised in America but adopted her far more than she adopted him. The Man of Steel sequels, as well as DC Universe films, promise to explore that universe in the 21st century – this is a Superman after all, who has wandered the Earth.There are many international supervillains and superheroes in the DC universe, and to take Superman as another name for Americaman is misleading.Still residing in the DC Comics universe is old Will ‘the Spirit’ Eisner created character Uncle Sam, the national personification of the United States. But aside a few notable storylines and one-off series, has never touched Superman’s profile. Superman is not an inherent spirit of America, but it is that adoption itself that makes him such a powerful symbol.Superman’s city, Metropolis sits on the North East Coast of America, dwarfing nearby New York, while a few miles below Gotham provides the dark alter-ego to its shining towers. While Clark Kent is the embodiment of the American dream from Smallville Kansas and Kal El is biologically Krypton, Superman is the light of that city nicknamed The Big Apricot. He’s also a flying personification of nurture versus nature, not an American boy scout. On the last syllable, the trunk like legs in the dapper suit turned. In profile, he was even more threatening. The sky was virtually white with sheet lightening now, every colour blanched.

Chapter IV

“He remains…” My eyes widened, had I again won a point, a concession… No. “He’s the son of alien world, not one cell comes from Earth”. The contempt was a clear.“He’s American, he was raised American…” I noticed an angry furrow of red eyebrows as I said it.Despite a clear central message, not unfamiliar to the Superman myth, it wasn’t all plain sailing. And after the Dark Knight trilogy it couldn’t be.Man of Steel presents an origin story, but one of the lightest I’ve seen – even in a world of constant reboots. Familiarity with the Superman myth is required to make full sense of the story, even beyond the cultural staples. In that respect, it’s a new kind reboot – one that requires its predecessors for it to reject and react against. Along the way, Man of Steel strips the myth apart, picking and choosing parts relevant to the story it wants to tell and adding some extra, just for you.Yes: “They fuck you up your mum and dad.” Here it’s stronger than ever.While Superman’s Earth and Kryptonian families adhere to their traditional roles, both come with twists. Jonathan Kent’s insistence that Clark keeps his secret borders on myth sabotage, all the while instilling his son’s motivation and morals. His death is no longer a mindless act of nature seen in the Reeves films – it’s an elevated sacrifice to nature, at the same time human, Kryptonian and, particularly, tornado. This is the sacrifice of the father. Superman remains the biological son of Kryptonians, but her the son’s role is elevated. He is the first natural birth in centuries, the first non-predetermined Kryptonian in centuries. That addition makes Earth the far more sensible home for him.The rain had now stopped completely, the lip curl turned impassive but topped by a brow heavier than ever. We were at the eye of thee storm, with constant high crashes threatening the windows and the constant strobe of white light. In front of me, the figure was entirely silhouette. Unmoving.Pre-determination is a significant addition to the Superman films. In Man of Steel, not only did it allow Jor-El to become the first Kryptonian male to get laid for centuries, but it also imbued a new sheen into the staid Kryptonians. Zod and Jor-El were products of their society, biologically, while Kal-El is neatly destined to be the first Kryptonian to experience free choice for centuries. His father Jor-El is even more hands on than ever. He’s not just a great mind but an action-minded, noble saviour. That is the sacrifice of the other father.In all, the theme of destiny is a strong one – highlighted by the sacrifice of two fathers. The son of the House of Hope was sent as a last resort with the hope of uniting the peoples of Krypton and Earth. Ironically, the only son of Krypton without a predetermined purpose (given a religious sheen by Zod’s cry of “blasphemy”) ensured that his life would be more defined by destiny than ever.My eyes had wandered while I spoke and when, with a flash, the lightening suddenly stopped, they returned to the window and darkness. But that was all, I glanced around but I was alone. I had little else to do. i slowly turned around and saw the door at the end of the room was open. Standing there was my guide from earlier and two Corp security guards in full uniform – visors on their eyes, stazers in hand. I sighed and checked for the cards in my pocket. Interview terminated.

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Prologue

SOME TIME AGO A FRIEND ASKED ME A QUESTION… I say a friend… It was what you might call an interview of sorts, held once a week, often in the same room. The walls of that room were half wet brick, half new stone and where they met dark pools stole the corners. In an ocean of dark, in the middle of an impossible room, a bright white light fell in a spiralling cone onto a circular table from a cord lamp. The long electric twine sneaked up to the ceiling, presumably… Lost as it was in the dark and wrapped in a barbed wire of crisp dead leaves. Below I sat patiently and immobile as always, as in front of me long, thin, white hands laid playing cards on the table. One by one the cards went down, the bony wrists snaking purposefully from loose orange cuffs. Within three cards the question was asked.

Chapter I

It was a question that had long trod many a scattered page of Action Comics #1 into the dust ground. “Batman vs Superman? Everyone says Batman… why?! For the sake of argument, let us assume that Superman is not playing nice anymore… Maybe Batman killed Lois to piss him off … So we have, bloodthirsty Superman vs Batman …. who’d win?” My response wasn’t circumspect in the swirling light. The comic traditions are quite clear and I said it: “It’s Batman! It’s Batman! It’s always Batman!” I paused. “Look at Dark Knight Returns…” I continued, quickly rejecting the idea that Batman would kill Lois Lane to, er, piss Superman off – “The stories are more likely to show a dystopian tilt (or exacerbation) of the American state, sufficient enough to bring the two opposing super-ideologies to blows.” I pointed out that Batman is “the most dangerous man on Earth” as a Jack of Diamonds was laid flat.In return I laid out some proof. I referred to the late twentieth century JLA, a series that began with Grant Morisson’s freshening up of the Justice League. Not only did this hark back to the League’s original line up, but injected reverence and hard sci-fi back into the League itself with excellently plotted and seminal stories. It was particularly impressive as that run started out with the Transformed ‘Lectric Superman of the ‘90s, a storyline that was red, external, pants. “Heh”.

Chapter II

Early in that JLA relaunch, one story was the oft told tale of benevolent aliens who hide a sinister plan: New World Order. It was simple and derivative to a point, but sold on its climax. The powerful aliens’ takedown of the JLA was a great, concise reintroduction to the core League members: Atlantean Prince Aquaman and Amazon Goddess Wonder Woman, imaginative power ring wielder Green Lantern (at the time the inexperienced Kyle Rayner) and Scarlet Speedster the Flash , Enigmatic telepath J’onn J’onzz the Martian Manhunter and of course heavy hitters Superman and Batman. In New World Order, Having subdued the metahumans of the League, the villainous aliens dismissed the escaped Caped Crusader as a mere mortal, failing to abide Superman’s stern warnings to the contrary.Inevitably, the puny flying rodent man takes them all down with extreme prejudice. Grant Morrison’s gleeful storytelling was realised in Howard Porter’s sublime artwork, and it just got better – typically deeper, mythic, sprawling and metaphysical. Later stories such as Mark Waid’s brilliant Tower of Babel continued the good work on the Dark Knight, channelling Batman’s personality (disorders) through the centre of the League’s stories – an un-galactic, City focussed philosophy is not easy to reconcile with a moon-headquartered global superteam.Tower of Babel was recently adapted as the animated film Doom, where Batman’s measured but paranoid, pre-prepared defensive strategies to take down each of his team mates if they turn ‘rogue’ were stolen and used with devastating consequences. It split the League in the comics (Divided they Fall) – and it’s that moral approach to life, the tension between the Alien, the Goddess and the Man (the trinity) that powers the Justice League concept. That’s where Batman vs Superman originally comes from, two ideologies. Two ideologies that often end in a punch up.This time the lean white fingers lay down a King of Clubs.And Batman often wins.“So there’s the answer,” I said.
There’s a long history of Batman trashing Superman in the comics – Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns is a key example. The recent videogame Injustice: Gods Among Us brought the same argument into living rooms – and the result of Batman victorious brought disbelief, surprise, umbrage and bewilderment – but the fact remains that Batman does often win. And he often wins because he cheats. What else is Batman but a cheater? A cheater with good reason he may be, but a cheater he is. “Supes may be the most powerful being on the planet, but Bats is the most dangerous human.” The lamp had stopped swirling, the hands had stopped moving.

Chapter III

Across from me, each white hand lay palm down to the table, sequential Royal Clubs laid out in front. The hands’ owner had a follow-up. “I was hoping you’d have some argument for Superman but I suppose… It is Batman then.” I had won, was it as easy as that? No, of course not. “How about this – who do you like more … Batman or Superman?” The opening line was loaded like a joke gun. In the calming light I saw the hint of a spreading grin. This I knew: Batman may be the most dangerous mortal on Earth, but Superman is still the one to which all superheroes aspire. And with good reason.Superman, last son of Krypton is a multi-layered enigma that has gradually built up over 80 years… A myth mist that defines him as the greatest and definitive invention in superherodom, but has also consigned him to an irrelevant, and unfashionable sometime box-office mope in the past.The first returns of Man of Steel seem to have washed away the cobwebs of apathy that have surrounded the figure for too long. With a Nietzschean nickname hanging precariously over an overgrown boy scout persona – with a generally mainstream repellent ‘alien’ origin to boot – the 21st century hasn’t been kind to Superman.I was broken from my reverie by a white blur. A King of Diamonds had joined its cousins on the table. It was time for a change of location.